26 Report of the American 



not require such peculiar laws for their preservation, or for close seasons 

 being set apart for spawning, as are necessary in the inland fisheries. 



There is a period when fish are in season, and when they should be 

 taken hy legitimate means. There is another period when they are out 

 of season, and then should be protected by all legitimate means. They 

 are in season after the}- have full}' recovered from the prostrating and 

 exhaustive effects of spawning, and when found upon their feeding 

 grounds putting fat upon the body. At this time, though the eggs and 

 milt are in the ovaries, they are so minute as to take little if an}' nourish- 

 ment from the system, all of the food taken forming fat and muscle. 

 They are out of season when they have left their feeding grounds, and 

 have reached their spawning beds, and are in the act of spawning. The 

 eggs and the milt at this period having absorbed from the body of the 

 fish most of the fat which had been previously put on, becomes enlarged 

 to the full size, and are mature and ripe for being deposited. 



In the egg will be noticed a fatty substance, resembling small glob- 

 ules of oil, which is provided by nature for the nourishment and growth 

 of the embryo fish during incubation, and is the food contained in the 

 sac attached to the young fry for several days after emerging from the 

 shell. This drain of fat from the parent fish into the egg and milt, and 

 the prostrating effects of spawning, causes it to become lean and lank 

 in condition, and therefore foul, out of season, and actually unfit for 

 food. The killing and eating of fish at this particular period should be 

 strictly prohibited by law. It is not less repugnant to common sense 

 than it would be to kill our domestic animals in an advanced state of 

 pregnancy, or for some time afterwards. Why, then should people con- 

 jure up the belief that fish do not come under the same laws of nature as 

 other animals? 



It is also of importance to remember that nearly all fish, during the 

 spawning season, become very dull, and are in a semi-lethargic state, 

 and, generally speaking, consume little or no food whilst performing this 

 work of nature. Salmon eat nothing whatever at this time, neither do 

 they take food within their stomachs from the time of leaving salt water 

 till after they have perforned the work of spawning, even should the 

 time of their migration extend over a period of six months, or longer. 

 At the end of their long journey, and from eating nothing since leaving 

 the sea, they become changed in color, their former rich red flesh now 

 becomes a flabby white, their bodies are frequently covered with wounds 

 and sores, parasites begin to prey upon them, a fungoid growth sets in, 

 and great numbers die. 



Mankind, from his overweening selfishness, is not satisfied with killing 

 these fish in the earlier seasons, when they are fat and wholesome, and 



